Powers/Abilities: Anthony Davis is a normal human with
a high degree of knowledge in technology, as he built his own costume. As
the Ringer, his costume could create rings of varying size, resistance, and thickness
by condensing the dust motes in smog, giving the rings the hardness of steel . The rings could be explosive,
crushing, or freezing, and he could control
their movement at short distance. He also could create long chains of rings for
various uses: as a whip, as stairs, and so on.
As Strikeback his body was covered and composed of metallic parts. He had jets
for flying, as well as repulsor/energy blasts, superhuman strength (class 25?), teleporting at short and probably long distances.

(Lethal Foes of Spider-Man#3 (fb) - BTS) - Anthony and Leila
married and were very happy.

(Defenders I#51 (fb) - BTS) - Anthony Danis worked for
NASA but he was sure he lead a poor life. Jealous of Kyle Richmond's wealth, built a costume, and as Ringer assaulted the Richmond's house.

(Defenders I#51) - Ringer tore the Richmond's strongroom apart
with an explosive ring. He knew that the Police might arrive, but he
was surprised by Nighthawk's arrival. With his Rapid Fire Rings he destroyed
Nighthawks flight equipment. The Ringer then ran away, but Nighthawk reached him,
punching him in the face, only to fracture his hand on the Ringer's protective mask.
The Ringer then fled again, concealed himself in a dark room, and waited for Nighthawk
arrival. Using a chain of rings, he again attacked the hero, but he then ran out
of rings. Nighthawk kicked him, breaking some of his teeth, after which the Ringer jumped out a window.
Nighthawk, using the chain of rings succeeded in grabbing the Ringer in midair and smashing
him through a wall.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#58 (fb) - BTS) - Ringer
was released from prison and was on probation.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#58 (fb) - BTS) - Ringer understood
he wasn't cut out for the crime and wanted to sell his costume, so gave his
costume to the Tinkerer to modify it.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#53 - BTS) - The Tinkerer was defeated by
Spider-Man, and the Ringer's costume remained in the Tinkerer's old base, which was garrisoned by the Police.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#58) - Using a "chain of
rings", Anthony Davis
accessed the Tinkerer's warehouse, avoiding the Police. He donned his costume, but
before he could go away, Abner Jenkins (disguised in civilian clothing over his
armor) entered in the laboratory and
defeated him with a single punch. Jenkins, remaining in the shadows, subdued the
Ringer, duping him into believing that an explosive ring had been added to the costume, and if
he (Davis) did not fight Spider-Man, he (Jenkins) would have detonate the
explosive. The terrified Ringer acquiesced.

With the help of a mini-radar given to him by his
"boss", Ringer found Spider-Man and attacked him. Spider-Man mocked Ringer for his name, avoided all his attacks and
knocked out all of the Ringer's dental repairs. The Ringer succeeded in freezing Spider-Man for
some seconds, but the Arachnid was in late for a date, so dodged him for a
while, then left him on the roof of the building.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#58 - BTS) - Ringer was really
scared that his "boss" would kill him, and he searched for
Spider-Man for some hours.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#58) - Instead, it was Spider-Man,
after his dinner with Debra Withman, who found the Ringer and defeated him very
easily. Jenkins detonated the explosive, which was really just a farce that
exploded in a small "poof," leaving both
Spider-Man and the Ringer unharmed.

Spider-Man webbed up the Ringer and brought him to the Police.
The Ringer
confessed to having violated his probation and confessed to his actions.

(Deadly Foes of Spider-Man#4 (fb) - BTS) - Davis went to
prison. Jenkins went to the same prison, unaware that Davis was there. When
Jenkins boasted of his plan involving the Ringer with his prison-mates, Davis
heard everything. He was too scared to seek vengeance, but told everything to his
wife Leila Davis.

(Code of Honor#3) - Ringer, Hobgoblin and Cobra went on a crime spree, but were opposed by Daredevil and the Black Widow.

(Captain America I#319)
- Ringer was gunned down in the Scourge massacre at the Bar with no Name.

(Deadly Foes of Spider-Man#4 - BTS) - Leila Davis used one of
Ringer's gloves to entrap the Beetle (Jenkins) and used a ring to strangle him, but
Spider-Man saved the criminal, captured Leila, and gave the glove to the Police.

(Captain America I#320) - The Water Wizard led Cap to the bar the
morning after the Scourge massacre and showed him the bodies of the Ringer
and all the other villains.

(Lethal Foes of Spider-Man#4 (fb) - BTS) - Anthony Davis wasn't dead,
but was very near to death. AIM took the corpses of the Scourge's
victims to discover information about their powers and equipment and saved
Ringer's life, performing experiments on him and transforming him into Strikeback, a
cyborg.

(Lethal Foes of Spider-Man#4 (fb) - BTS) - Strikeback
performed some missions for the AIM, after which he became independent.

(Lethal Foes of Spider-Man#3) - Strikeback found his wife,
Leila Davis, when she was Hardshell, part of the Lethal Foes of Spider-Man. He watched her
from afar fighting against Stegron and the Beetle (Jenkins) for the possession of a
Nuclear Gun.

Shortly after, when Leila was in danger for Stegron's assault
Strikeback intervened in her defense and held back Stegron, equaling his
strength.

(Lethal Foes of Spider-Man#4) - Strikeback helped Leila
in taking the Nuclear Gun. He then teleported and stunned the Vulture with his blasts,
and he bounced one of Boomerang's explosive boomerangs against him. He had
to stop Leila from blasting the Beetle for revenge and tried to convince her
that the criminal way of life was not better and that together they could have a
good life. Stegron crunched him with his tail and repeatedly punched Strikeback
till his systems short-circuited. His human parts helped him to resist
the damage, and he blasted Stegron, incapacitating himi. Spider-Man then took
the Nuclear Gun from Hardshell, but Strikeback stopped his former lover and
forced her to
teleport away with him, to start a new life.

(Thunderbolts#56
(fb)) - Anthony and Leila lived happily for a short time, then, Anthony
cybernetic systems broke down. He passed away quietly... at peace with himself.

Comments: Ringer
was created by David Kraft, Keith Giffen and Klaus Janson;
Strikeback was
created by Danny Fingeroth, Keith Pollard and Jim Amash(?).

I dislike the idea of
resurrecting Scourge victims. They seemed to be the few deaths we could actually
count on.
--Snood.

Ringer was also seen among the afterlife characters in Sensational She-Hulk#53.--John McDonagh
But these could all actually be hallucinations on the She-Hulk's part. I've read the brain continues functioning after the heart stops beating.
--Will U
This is supported by the fact that the Ringer wasn't even dead.
--Markus Raymond

A Ringer was seen in JLA/Avengers#4, but since the characters in this story were pulled forward from different times it could've been another Ringer.

Code of Honor#3 addition by John McDonagh. Captain America I#320 addition by Rick.